The Toronto Raptors defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 121-114 on Sunday. With the loss, the defending champs moved to 36-28 on the year – good for sixth place in the Western Conference.
That’s not great.
Making matters worse, LeBron James reaggravated his injured ankle in the process. The Lakers’ most recent health update on his status drew groans from the fan base.
The frustration within L.A.’s locker room is getting palpable. First you had Dennis Schroder acknowledging the very real chemistry issues the Lakers were having.
Then on Sunday, following his team’s most recent defeat, Kyle Kuzma took things one step further. He specifically pointed to some roster problems that, in his opinion at least, were contributing to the Lakers’ woes.
“I’m not sure what to do,” Kuzma said, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
“I wish we could get a little bit more time out there with Marc (Gasol). That’d be something that would be pretty good for us, for sure.”
Kuzma then added that all of the Lakers' injury woes were contributing to the poor on-the-court product that has been on display for the past few months.
“I just don’t think we’re connected right now. I think we’re not healthy and not good enough,” he continued, per Bill Oram of The Athletic.
The Lakers’ next five games are going to be against the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks. They could lose all five of those outings.
Anthony Davis tried delivering a blunt message to his team recently, but it doesn’t seem to have clicked. This is gut check time. Either the Lakers get it together now, or they risk missing the playoffs altogether.
Will the defending champs be able to buckle down and get the job done to close out the regular season? Time will tell.
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